Madhvacharya - Works of Madhvacharya

Works of Madhvacharya

The Works of Madhvacharya are many in number and include commentaries on the Vedas, Upanishads, the Bhagavadgita and the Brahma Sutras. Sri Madhvacharya also composed many works on the philosophy of Tattvavada.

The Acharya has written four works on the Sutra-prasthana (the Vedantic school of Brahma Sutra)

• 1. Brahmasutra-bhashya
• 2. Sarva-shastrartha-sangraha (Anubhashya)
• 3. Brahmasutra-anuvyakhyana
• 4. Brahmasutra-anuvyakhyana-vivarana (Nyaya-vivarana)

Two works are on the Gita-prasthana (the Vedantic school of Bhagavadgita)

• 5. Bhagavadgita-bhashya
• 6. Bhagavadgita-tatparya-nirnaya

In the Upanishad-prasthana (the Vedantic school of Upanisads), the Acharya has written bhashyas or authoritative commentaries on all the Principal Upanishads. But there is notable uniqueness in respect of these also. While all the others have commented only on three chapters of the Aitareya Upanishad, the Acharya's bhashya covers the entire Upanishad-kanda (of 9 chapters) of the Aitareya Aranyaka.

• 7. Mahaitareyopanishad-bhashya
• 8. Brhadaranyakopanishad-bhashya
• 9. Chandogyopanishad-bhashya
• 10. Taittiriyopanishad-bhashya
• 11. Talavakaropanishad-bhashya (Kenopanishad-bhashya)
• 12. Kathakopanishad-bhashya
• 13. Atharvanopanishad-bhashya (Mundakopanishad-bhashya)
• 14. Shatprashnopanishad-bhashya
• 15. Yajniya-mantropanishad-bhashya (Ishavasyaopanishad-bhashya)
• 16. Mandukyopanishad-bhashya

The verses occurring in the middle of the Mandukyopanishat are mistakenly held to be Gaudapada's karikas. But Acharya Ramanuja has accepted that these form original portions of the Upanisat itself. But Madhva has rejected the old wrong notion once for all by writing bhashya on these verses also. In this connection it is noteworthy how senior Advaita scholars too like Brahmananda accept that these are original Upanisadic verses.

The Acharya not only blazed a new pathway of spiritual interpretation of the Veda, by writing a commentary on 40 hymns of the Rig veda, but also showed the way leading to a synthesis of Samhita, Brahmana and Aranyaka texts by commenting upon some chapters of the Aitreya Brahmana and the Mahanamni-khanda of the same Aranyaka. These works are,

• 17. Rig-bhashya
• 18. Khandartha-nirnaya (Karma-nirnaya)

So also, there are three works of his that lay bare the heart of the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata in a bid to synthesize the teachings of Itihasas and Puranas:

• 19. Mahabharata-tatparya-nirnaya
• 20. Mahabharata-tatparya (Yamaka-bharata)
• 21. Bhagavata-tatparya-nirnaya

Nine topical treatises are concerned with determining epistemology and ontology:

• 22. Vishnu-tattva-nirnaya
• 23. Vada (tattvoddyota)
• 24. Mayavada-dushana (Mayavada-khandana)
• 25. Upadhi-dushana (Upadhi-khandana Tattva-prakasika)
• 26. Mithyatvanumana-dushana (Mithyat-vanuniana-khandana)
• 27. Tattva-samkhyana
• 28. Tattva-viveka
• 29. Pramana-lakhsana
• 30. Vada-laksana (Katha-lakshana)

Seven works offer guidance regarding performance of ceremonials and rituals as laid down in law-books, regarding building architecture, mantra and tantra and duties and practices of householders and mendicants:

• 31. Krisnamrta-maharnava
• 32. Tantra-sara-sangraha
• 33. Sadacara-smrti
• 34. Jayanti-nirnaya
• 35. Om-Tat-Sat-Pranava-kalpa (Yati-pranavakalpa)
• 36. Nyasa-paddhati
• 37. Tithi-nirnaya

In the field of devotional literature, there are two works of his; one is a stotra or hymn of praise; the other is an anthology of compositions set to music and meant to be sung:

• 38. Narasimha-nakhastuti ( It was added to Vaayu stuthi at the beginning and at the end to show people always the supreme god is offered prayer prior to others)

• 39. Dvadasha-stotras (12 in number)

Further, there is a work which the Acharya is said to have composed in his boyhood while playing with a ball (and so it is called ball-hymn), it is a small work of 2 verses in a unique meter:

• 40. Kanduka-stuti

Of these, 38 had been published formerly. Two, viz. Nyasapaddhati, that explains the daily routine duties of mendicants, and Tithinirnaya, that is a unique work on mathematics indicating precise formulae for the determination of each date's extent, are works which were first noticed by Shri Bannanje Govindacharya in the course of his research in Palm-leaf Manuscripts some years ago.